8 Materials

As for materials, dear reader, you may be wondering, being the thoughtful sort, what then became my sources of bona fide materials mobilized during those intervening years before my mid-forties? First, please note that the time came when I knew I had to publicly renounce all those alternate lifestyle books (which is what I call all the many plural approaches to God we reviewed in Gods-A to Z) and I had to renounce them on my face, to God, and then remove them from my bookshelves. I threw them in the trash, though I should have burned them so that by no accident could they possibly harm any unsuspecting someone else. They have no place in a set-apart (Holy) Christian home.

Next, we can fast forward through years of floundering around a good deal at material selection, searching for good teachings about God and His ways (documented, faithful to the scriptures, neither contrived nor self-serving) and rejecting various dubious takes on Him (cults, extremist groups). Nothing comes easy, does it?

Eventually, though, in my mid-forties, I found many good teachings in the Holy Roman Catholic Church, the conservative Baptist Church (the denomination particularly dedicated to teachings on all things Judeo-Christian) and from the Moody Bible Institute (similarly dedicated). To continue with the military metaphor, these three mainstream establishments became my principal armory for the specialized weapons I needed for a spiritual campaign. From them, I drew an arsenal of state-of-the-art “weaponry”.

Leading off, there was The Bible (Old and New Testament) in the original Hebrew and Greek, compiled and authorized by the Holy Roman Catholic Church and translated into the Latin Vulgate, then into English. The English translation I favored for so long bore the Catholic Imprimatur or stamp of correctness in translation—always a good sign, and included the Apocrypha or wisdom books.

Not that I knew how to read Hebrew and Greek, but by expanding my arsenal further, I was greatly assisted in correctly interpreting individual words by such reputable classics as Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Kay Arthur’s How to Study Your Bible Precept by Precept, and Henry M. Morris’ The Genesis Record. These materials neither added to nor subtracted from scripture. Instead they taught the importance of believing in scripture in its original language (not accepting verbatim any translation purely on its own), proving scripture with scripture or, alternately, described how to build a teaching on any subject from scripture itself, all tremendously reliable methods. And over these years I disciplined myself to read and learn from scripture, not from books about scripture. There is no substitute for scripture.

My all-time favorite study Bible is The Spirit-filled Life Bible, any edition, though the Dr. Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible is no less than a true blessing for anyone who chooses it (as is anything Dr. Stanley writes, photographs, or speaks). His monthly Early Light devotions are published in his free “In Touch” magazine (to order: go to www.Intouch.org or call 800-333-5848) and they are a powerful daily resource that our family as a whole does use every single day. Dr. Stanley currently has a new book and workbook out on how to BUILD an intimate relationship with God called In Step with God. I quote from “In Touch”, “The In Step with God Workbook will help you see that to know the Father better, you must build an intimate relationship with Him.” Believe me when I tell you that I can see from this vantage point in my life that this spiritual odyssey I have been on has been building me solidly INTO an intimate relationship with God. And I can’t wait to get my hands on this new work by Dr. Stanley! It is also available at the web address or phone number above. His son, Andy Stanley, pastor of Northpoint Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, is also a current-day, fine resource for insightful and correct teachings and writings.

At this point, I must also remember to recommend to you the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (that is, a certified copy of the Anglican Standard Book of Common Prayer). When you haven’t got a clue how to approach the Bible or prayer, this book structures your approach and summons the grace and mystery of a relationship with God with irreproachable inspired form.

Separately, Anglicans also teach and encourage the various postures of prayer—on your couch (in bed), kneeling, standing, lifting hands, kneeling forehead touching the floor, and praying face down lying on the floor arms extended. For spontaneous or formal prayer, I have learned to choose as appropriate from the several postures. Postures teach and reinforce in me a correct attitude toward God—He is the All-sufficient Father, I the needy child. Amen.

All this structure is no substitute for eventually entering on your own into mature conversation with God, but to begin to sense the great scope and potential of prayer and meditation the prayer book and Anglican practices will do that beautifully.

The Anglicans also have a great tradition of morning and evening prayer. For two years I practiced (with a mentor) regular Morning Prayer in an Anglican church sanctuary—great discipline, beautiful atmosphere! And I learned that prayer always steadies one through anything. Life goes on, but it is better if it goes on with steadying, I assure you.

Along with the prayer book, regular washing with prayer and the Word and the postures of prayer, the Anglicans teach journaling—keeping a daily record of your spiritual progress. This practice is excellent for dealing with huge amounts of material as each day gives you a fresh page to interact with, encouraging you to remember that each day is a fresh day and to leave discouragement behind (an absolute necessity). I prefer 200-page college-ruled spiral bound notebooks, the kind with dividers in them so I can group subject matter—such as one section for notes on sermons, another for notes on prayer, and another on class notes, research and so on. I get a new binder every year or so. To store all this paperwork, I use numbered and labeled “butlers” or library magazine holders (currently 14 in number, or 5 linear feet of shelf space) and a directory in which to enter the contents of each butler for easy reference.

Back to Bibles! The Westminster Study Bible, King James Version (KJV), is a literary masterpiece though one must be careful with all publications of the Bible, that the notes of the editors, the introductions, etc. are not steeped in modern criticism (I have referred to modern criticism before and will go into it in depth another time.) The Message is an amazing amplified Bible, meaning the text is written to explain the scriptures as you read them. Yet I prefer the NKJV Spirit Filled Life Bible specifically because interpretation is kept out of the verse and sequestered in footnotes, appendices and comment blocks. Thus I am always able to distinguish the current-day voice of editors and other contributors from that of God through His chosen scriptural authors.

That’s a good run through of the materials. Though you can be sure that there have been more in the past and there will be more to come. But these were important to address at this point. Now on to the methods!

To be continued . . .